Muramasa: Kokoro no burēdo :Blade of the Heart:
by Marjorie Hawke
Summary: Jinkuro finally admits to himself that he is oddly attracted to the young princess of Narukami, Momohime—much to Kongiku's dismay. When his love interest is taken away from him, will Jinkuro find her before she is gone forever? -May be rated M later, very suggestive in chap. 3-
1. Budding Affection

Muramasa: Kokoro no burēdo (Blade of the Heart)

I

* * *

It started when Momohime interfered the second time—before he could deal the finishing blow to Yokinojyo Yagyu. He had been inches away from feeding his blade the blood and Soul of a son from the Yagyu clan, but she had to step in front of him and protect the coward—worthless scum, having a woman beg for his life.

None the less, she had shown him incredible strength in pushing Jinkuro's soul out of her body, but it irked him to no end that she would save someone as unworthy as Yagyu. What relationship did they have, anyway? Even if he did have some talent in wielding a sword, it was not even close to matching his Oboro style.

He looked at her then, bent down close to Yukinojyo, gently stroking his cheek and talking in hushed, comforting words. His vision turned slightly red when he caught the swift act of Momohime brushing aside the man's hair and pressing her soft, pink lips to his forehead. So, they were engaged—they probably did things like that all the time under the sheets. Jinkuro narrowed his eyes and firmly set them on his foxy assistant, Kongiku. She noticed his irritated gaze and just winked back, shaking her curvy hips and swishing her tail, making her breasts bounce and pop out of her orange kimono. It was just another failed attempt to seduce him, but he watched her while he was ease-dropping—uh, carefully listening to what Momohime and Yukinojyo were saying...

"Don't you worry. Now I am Momohime in both body and spirit. I have returned."

There was a pause, then a weak response. "Is this the netherworld, or a dream? In either case, please forgive me..."

Jinkuro grunted. _Pathetic—willing a woman for forgiveness._ But he listened on even as he turned his back to look at the near by wall.

"Our engagement was just a farce so that we could entrap and crush Narukami. Ordered by the Shogun, I made the plan which took your father's and sister's lives."

Momohime's frantic response took Jinkuro so aback that he turned around again to look past Kongiku, to the source of the tattered voice. Jinkuro may be a merciless killer, but even he would not stoop so low as to fake an engagement to such a young lady.

"Are you saying my family is gone? Please tell me that's a lie!"

"Every night I have felt such terrible pangs of guilt... Please forgive me..."

To the Izuna clan man's devilish delight, Momohime said nothing and stood up, feverishly looking from side to side. He didn't catch her eyes, but he could see her furiously batting them and tilting her head back to look up at the light. The older man wasn't stupid—he knew she was trying to stop—big surprise here—tears. _Typical, _he thought, bemused as he watched the young Princess walk gracefully toward the busty Kongiku, speaking in a hushed, but slow voice. He shifted slightly as Momohime nodded to his assistant, making it seem as if he weren't interested in the least about what she had to say. Only when she was in front of him and her light footsteps stopped did he look up and into her swirling brown eyes, which were slightly moist, but he would give her praise for holding onto her composure for so long.

"Have a nice rendezvous?" He said slyly, looking her up and down. She tensed slightly, but then relaxed under his hungry gaze. She was a good bluffer, but she couldn't fool him. He knew his very presence made her jumpy... And he loved it every second of it. The slight shivers that ran down her spine when he would address her, the chewing of her bottom lip when his eyes would stop on a certain part of her body for more than a few seconds at a time... "I'm not usually so merciful." He admitted to her, his eyes stopping purposefully on her not-so-big breasts, then down to her thighs. If he had to say something good about this stupid, average looking girl, he would go with 'she has nice legs'. He met her eyes again before continuing. "So you'll return your body?" _Are those goosebumps on her arms?_

"Thank you for saving Yukinojyo." Her voice was as firm despite the chills his voice sent her, her hands now tied together under her small chest. "But we cannot leave him in such a state."

_Hm, _the man thought, sizing her up once again. _Such a loyal young princess. Rather like a dog._ "No need to worry. His ninja are watching us and will swoop down to help him." _Even though he doesn't deserve to live, the gutless fuck._

Momohime gave him a nod, along with a weary smile before surrendering. She opened her arms, indicating she was ready for him to take over. Wasting no time, he pushed his way into her body and forced her spirit out—now, when Jinkuro opened his eyes again, he was in the body of the girl, and Momohime was a floating, tiny blue mass. He could see the tears finally falling from her eyes, her very Soul open and vulnerable. The older man could easily take her in his hands and squash her. That would end her idiotic whining.

He did not know what possessed him that very moment, but he reached out his hands to gather her close to his chest, holding her there for a brief moment before giving her to Kongiku.

"Put her in the basket." He said, looking away and making sure not to catch Momohime's eye, "we leave for Narukami now."

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Muramasa: The Demon Blade. I only own the game and I'm lovin' it. ^u^

Soooo, yes. No spoilers for the game, you guys. I just defeated the third boss and I'm still learning things myself. If things don't make sense, it's because I'm making some stuff up because I don't know it yet. If you guys like it, review and I would be very happy.


	2. Just Lookin'

II

* * *

"I told you once, and I'll only tell you one more time _woman_," Jinkuro hissed, his left hand in a tight fist and his right furiously gripping the handle of his blade, "I did _not _hold that damn Momohime to me to comfort her and I sure as hell do not have any affectionate feelings for her." His pace was quick and silent as he trudged through the ninja infested woods—they still had a long way until Narukami and Kongiku was already driving the swordsman up a wall with her annoying questions about the Princess.

"Couldn't you have just killed her and gotten it over with, Master?" The fox whined, her tail lashing. She jogged to catch up to the Izuna clan man, the basket with Momohime in it bouncing on her hip. Kongiku heaved with the effort, her chest rising and falling quickly.

But Jinkuro kept going, his feet not faltering so much as once. "Idiot—if we kill her spirit, I die too. Did you forget that, huh?" He turned sharply and stared the fox down with icy brown daggers; she stopped in her tracks.

Instead of arguing, Kongiku put up her pouting face (which consisted of her jutting out her bottom lip and bending over so her ample breasts slipped out of her kimono—just enough to have it ride up in the back to show off her thighs). "Master," she whimpered; her tail curled seductively around one of her thighs while her left hand played with the hem of her ever shortening clothing, earning a raised brow from the man (or, well, man in a woman's body) in front of her. "I've walked such a long way for a little lady and my legs are getting tiiired... Could we maybe stop for a little while and rest?"

Before Jinkuro could protest—little lady? They had gone only ten miles and the little lady was _tired? _They did not have any time to waste because she was 'tired'. It wasn't even dusk!—the soft voice of Momohime's spirit piped up from inside the basket now resting against Kongiku's calf. "I'm a little chilly..." She said meekly; there was a slight pause and the man could almost _hear _the smile on her lips. "I may not be in my body anymore, but I can still feel some sensations. And my body is cold, sir." The fox gave her master a confused look.

"Nonsense!" He barked viciously, whipping a few strands of brown that had fallen from Momohime's curls into his face. _Now that I think about it..._ He mused while he turned his back on both the women,_ I do feel icy. _He curled his slightly numb fingers, his lips set firmly in a frown.

The bloodthirsty man sighed and pinched his nose; damn women. Why did his assistant have to be a damn _jealous woman?_ It would make things infinitely easier on him if Kongiku chose a _male _fox to be his guide, but no-o-o.

The annoying chirp of a hot springs monkey above their heads finally broke his resolve.

He looked back at the fox and the basket and growled through clenched teeth, "fine, we rest here for the night." He angrily thrust his hand in front of the fox, surprising her enough that her white tail twitched and her ears flipped back for a millisecond. "Give me the basket and I'll take her to the hot spring to warm her dumb ass up—don't look at me so disrespectfully Kongiku, I'm giving her her body back so she can do it herself. She's just lucky we were close to one, otherwise both of you would be out of luck."

The fox reluctantly placed the basket in Jinkuro's hand. And with that, she sulked off and Jinkuro took to the trees to have a very brisk "chat" (if you would call making hand gestures chatting) to a tan monkey with red symbols before getting whisked off to the springs.

* * *

"Stop whining that it's embarrassing to be seen naked. Who's interested in you?" They had arrived at the spring and what was the first thing Momohime did after getting her body back? Tell him that it was "weird" and "humiliating" to be seen without any clothes. Jinkuro may be a killer, but he did not watch while she peeled off her kimono—the thought of seeing her naked disgusted him; he cringed inwardly. He had turned to the opposite direction of which she was in, then turned to face her when she had her little towel hiding her private parts. "Look at your arms! Your muscles would just rip apart if I seriously swing a blade at you!" Speaking of arms...

They were pressing her towel (that thing wasn't long enough to be called a towel—it was more like a dish rag) to her body, her soft hands clutching it tightly to help hold it in place. The rag only covered about six or so inches below her crotch, so even more of her delicious legs—_her legs are not delicious! What am I thinking? _He quickly stopped his observation of her form and coolly looked up into her brown eyes; her face was a vibrant shade of red that started creeping down her neck and chest. Silly woman—it wasn't like no man had ever seen her body before. Yukinojyo probably saw it all the time back in Narukami when the engagement started.

"And your fair skin..." Jinkuro breathed; he didn't care if she had been violated by such unworthy hands, she was here and the Yagyu wasn't. The Izuna clan man willingly let his eyes wonder down her mid-section to those gorgeous legs, briefly stopping at her chest. He hardened his voice and his expression, turning once again to stone. Couldn't have her getting the wrong impression, could he?

"I can't stand all that frostbite, so give it a good rub."

She nodded vigorously (so hard in fact some of her hair came loose to fall in her face) and stepped backward, not bothering to turn around to watch where she was going or to take her towel off. It was rather cute that she was still hiding as she entered the steamy water, her rag still in place. Jinkuro shook his head—or tried to, since he was still just a spirit. He turned around and smirked to himself. _Might as well let her feel slightly comfortable. After all, I don't want to hear any more of her whining again for a long, long time..._

After all, there was no harm done in just lookin' at her.

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Muramasa: The Demon Blade and I never will. Love the game, though. :)

A/N: I know it's kinda short, but I'm keeping to two pages per chapter-that way it's easier for me to write and it won't take as long so I can put more up quicker. Thank you, Anon (just-lookin) for being my first reviewer and giving me the inspirational burst for this chapter (and the chapter name). Seeee what I did there? Huh? :3


	3. Hot Encounter

Muramasa: Kokoro no burēdo (Blade of the Heart)

III

* * *

Momohime sighed—this was the first time since Jinkuro took over her body that she'd really relaxed; as a spirit in a basket bumping up and down on a fox demon's hip, one doesn't get very comfortable very often, even if the basket was cushioned. But here, in the hot springs all alone, it was difficult _not _to relax.

The brown haired princess tensed her muscles and then relaxed again, propping her back up against a rock, all the while making quiet, content sounds in the back of her throat. She closed her eyes.

Okay, so she wasn't _completely_ alone—Jinkuro's spirit was hovering somewhere near the entrance. But Momohime wasn't worried. She had safely tucked herself out of his sight and feverishly began to rub her arms, like he had told her too.

_I guess he isn't as bad as he seems, _she thought, her hands falling to her sides defenselessly after a good scrubbing to get the grime and dried blood off. _Wait, what in the world am I thinking? He's a cold blooded killer and he'll always be one—think of all the countless ninja he's slain on our journey—"_

Out of nowhere, the sound of something moving in the water caught Momohime's attention. She opened her eyes and stared in the direction of the intrusion. _Maybe it was just a monkey..._

Suddenly, A young man with spiked black hair stepped into view from the fog, causing Momohime to gasp. _Who in the world—!_ In the blink of an eye, she slipped under the steaming water, so only her head was visible. She trembled. Was he going to hurt her? There was no way she could win in a fight against a full grown man!

The man didn't seem to notice her; or rather, pretended not to as he took a seat on a rock a small way away from Momohime herself, his hips thankfully still hidden under the water. She flushed bright red and stepped back, bumping up against another rock with her back, causing the intruder to turn to her with sharp, analyzing blue eyes. He didn't look like he was going to say anything, so Momohime piped up.

"Who are you?" She continued before he could answer (it didn't look like he was going to say his name anyway). "How rude of you to be here!"

"What?" In a swift motion his calm face turned into one of annoyance. "As if this is your outdoor bath? Anyhow, I was here first!" He sneered, "And I'm here with these monkeys. So even if you're here, it doesn't matter to me."

"You're comparing me to a monkey?" Momohime cried in despair, stuck to the spot. How dare he say something so rude and cruel to a princess! _The _princess of _Narukami! _Why, she could have his head lopped off for even looking at her the way he was, his eyes drifting down her body that she was covering with her arms under the water. "Fine—just hand me my towel and I'll be going."

The man looked over his shoulder to the small white towel laying on the rock behind him, beside a lounging hot springs monkey. A moment passed before he looked back to her, a wicked smile on his face.

He lifted the towel with his left hand and twirled it around a finger. "Oh, you mean this?" When Momohime nodded, he looked away from her face and dropped it into the water. The brown haired woman would have lunged forward if she had not been naked, so she stayed in her spot, sending heated glares at the man who pulled her soaking wet towel through the water only to wrap it around his slim hips. "I'm sorry," he said silkily, giving off the perfect picture of innocence with his high cheek bones and dazzling smile, "I'm a bit of a butter finger."

The princess bit her tongue. "That's alright." She said through clenched teeth. "May I have my towel back?" It was taking all of her will power not to walk over to the arrogant pervert and snatch her belonging from him and giving him a good whack against the head.

"That doesn't sound very sincere." The black haired man turned his back to Momohime and climbed up on the rock behind him, the wet towel clinging to his backside. Momohime spluttered and blushed a bright tomato red. She turned her head and averted her eyes—she did _not _want to see what it looked like in the front.

"Why don't you come and get it, if you want it so badly."

Momohime could hear the smirk on his lips. He was enjoying making her uncomfortable.

"No, that's quite alright," she blushed harder and slowly started making her way back to Jinkuro, making sure to never turn her back on the man who had stolen her towel. A stand of her pulled back hair fell into her eyes. "You can keep it."

She heard the man snicker. What an ass—how could he do this to a princess? She heard something wet fall onto something hard, and in a moment of blind terror, Momohime clamped her eyes shut. _Oh my Kami, I think he just took the towel off and I'm not even eight feet from him and I'm not even dressed oh my Kami, oh my Kami—_

The brunette heard splashing, and before she could bolt away, two firm hands clasped her shoulders and turned her roughly around. Momohime's mind was working overtime, her senses pushed into over-drive.

She found that she was in a very, very sticky situation.

The man had thrown away his towel, walked his way over to her, and was now pressing his naked body against her equally naked back, his hands now gripping tightly to her wrists. He moved them so they were pinned to her sides, exposing her. _Oh Kami, he's __going to rape me and then kill me! _Momohime thought franticly, but instead of a blood curdling scream erupting from her throat, only a small yelp of dismay came. She felt something hard pressing against her thigh.

The man leaned down so his mouth was against her ear. "You've put yourself in a bad situation..." He whispered, his hot breath fanning against her cheek. She suppressed a shudder—there was no way she would show him how much he had distressed her. It would only give him pleasure. "Being here, all alone, completely undressed. You're quite..." His right hand let go of her wrist to snake around her waist, keeping her still. He rested his chin on her shoulder, and she could swear she felt his eyes roaming down her exposed chest.

"Vulnerable."

It was only one word, but it was enough to kick Momohime into action. She lifted her right arm and brought it back, shoving her elbow deeply into his nose. His grip loosened and he groaned in pain, and while he did Momohime slipped away, snatching her towel out of the water and dashing off in the other direction, toward Jinkuro.

The man didn't pursue her.

Momohime said nothing as she walked past the green spirit that was asking her, in an overly annoyed voice, why the hell she had taken so long. She didn't answer Jinkuro nor did she acknowledge him. The brunette princess just kept walking.

* * *

Jinkuro was just about to follow Momohime out of the hot springs and punish her for not speaking when he spoke to her, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw a black haired man step out of the springs, his nose drenched in blood and his thin lips curved into a wicked smile. He was in all of his glory, and, Jinkuro noticed with disgust, quite aroused.

The man looked at the floating green spirit and said, matter of factually, "What a crazy bitch."

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Muramasa: The Demon Blade and I never will. Love the game, though.

A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I think it was worth it. If you can't guess who the guy is, it's Kisuke. XD


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